Household #94: Hires, Sim

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In the 1900 Barney census, Sim Hires headed a 5-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Sim Hires headed a 5-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 2 extended-family members and 2 boarders, employees, servants, or other non-kin residents.

Sim Hires's listed occupation was Farmer.

Reported birthplaces span Georgia and South Carolina, pointing to movement into Barney or family formation across county or state lines.

Newspaper and Public-Record Trail

This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

No child-tracking items are open for this page because the 1900 table lists no children in the household.

Family Narrative

Rebecca Yates Hiers, Sim’s mother, now has a separate evidence-graded profile. Original deeds document the family’s Brooks County land, and the 1900 census verifies Rebecca in Sim’s Barney household. Her identification as a daughter of William Yates remains strong probable rather than verified.

The census chain places this household more securely than the 1900 entry alone. In 1870, Simon Hiers, age 3, appears in Brooks County in the household of David Hiers, age 48, and Rebecca Hiers, age 42. In 1880, Simeon S. Hien, age 15, appears in Quitman in the household of Rebecca Hien, age 53, with siblings that match a Hiers-Hires family cluster already visible elsewhere in Brooks County records. By 1900, Sim Hires is a single farmer in Barney, born in April 1866, owning his farm free of mortgage while living with his mother Rebecca and taking in boarders.

The later censuses continue the same man in Barney. In 1910, Sim S. Hires, age 42, is a married farmer in Barney with wife Georgia Hires, age 24, and the census states they had been married for zero years. The Brooks County marriage record anchors that transition directly: S. S. Hires married Georgia Blease, with the license issued and the marriage performed on 6 April 1910. The handwritten return supports Blease as the bride's surname, which fits the record better than the census form Hires. In 1920, S. S. Hires, age 52, still appears in Barney as a married farmer with wife recorded as Georgit Hires, age 34. In 1930, Simeon S. Hiers, age 63, is again in Brooks County, now divorced, living on a farm with Georgia Smith, age 75, identified as his sister. In 1940, Sim S. Hiers, age 73, appears in Barney as a widowed farmer, still with Georgia Smith, now age 86, again identified as his sister.

William Ellis Hiers, elected mayor of Barney in 1911, belonged to a collateral Hiers branch. The available records support Sim and William Ellis as first cousins once removed through the Daniel and Nancy Hiers family, but the common-ancestor link remains strong probable rather than verified.

These records make several things clear. First, the 1870 and 1880 censuses support Sim as the son of David Hiers and Rebecca Hiers, with Rebecca remaining the key parental anchor after David disappears from the household by 1880. Second, the 1910 marriage record identifies the younger wife as Georgia Blease rather than a same-surname Hires bride, which removes the earlier confusion created by the census index. Third, the younger wife of 1910 and 1920 is not the same person as the older Georgia Smith seen in 1930 and 1940; the ages are too far apart, and the later censuses explicitly label Georgia Smith as Sim's sister. Fourth, the household shows long continuity in Barney farming life from at least 1900 through 1940, even though Sim's marital status changes from single to married, then divorced, then widowed.

The newspaper trail adds local context. The Valdosta Times of 14 October 1899 named Sim Hires among the successful farmers around Barney, placing him in that farm community just before the 1900 census. A marriage-era anchor appears in the Valdosta Daily Times of 16 April 1910. In OCR form, the notice reads substantially: "Mr. S. S. Hires, a well-known citizen of Brooks county, drove up to the home of Mr. W. R. Blease near Barney and took Miss Georgia Blease for a ride in his buggy. The couple drove over to Quitman and were married in the parlor of the ... hotel by Rev. W. T. Gaulden." The hotel word is unclear, but Quitman newspaper references from 1892 and 1902 establish the Hotel Marie, and the 1910 OCR is consistent with that name. The marriage notice independently supports the 6 April 1910 marriage record, confirms the bride as Georgia Blease, and places her at the home of W. R. Blease near Barney.

The later newspaper items fit the same household well. The Jeffersonian of 19 August 1915 printed a Barney letter signed "Georgia V. Hires"; that item probably belongs to Sim's wife, but because the clipping alone does not independently tie the signer to him, I would treat it as probable contextual support rather than as a hard identification record. The Macon Telegraph of 21 July 1917 described "Mrs. S. S. Hires, living near Barney, in Brooks County" as an extensive home canner who had already put up roughly 1,000 cans of tomatoes, 250 cans of berries, and 156 cans of beans, with peaches still to finish, from less than an acre of land. That report fits the 1910 and 1920 household well and gives a rare period glimpse of Georgia Hires's work within the farm economy. By 20 August 1921, the Macon Telegraph also placed "S. S. Hires" among the temporary committee members at the Adel meeting that organized a potato growers association, which supports his continued role in regional agricultural life. A Greenville News obituary for Warren R. Blease, who died in 1957 at age 93 near Barney, along with the Brooks County legislative list showing Warren R. Blease in repeated terms, makes it very likely that the "W. R. Blease" of the 1910 marriage notice was Warren R. Blease. A derivative Young-family compilation adds the derivative family claim that Georgia Blease, born 2 May 1886, was a daughter of Warren R. Blease and Willie Simmons and married S. S. Hires about 1910. Taken together, those pieces make Warren R. Blease the strongest current identification for Georgia's father, but the father-daughter relationship should still be treated as awaiting direct census or vital-record confirmation rather than as fully closed. A later Find a Grave memorial for Sim S. Hires at Gornto Cemetery in Brooks County also looks promising as a likely later-life match, but I would still keep that as a likely identification until the death and burial records are checked directly against the census chain.

The one part of the older entry I would still leave unresolved is the boarder written as John Blecton in 1900. Later comparison work narrows the problem but does not close it. In the adjoining Brooks County district in 1900, John T. Becton appears as a sixteen-year-old farm laborer born in Georgia to Georgia-born parents, and a likely continuation of that same man appears in 1910 in nearby Hickory Head as John J. Becton, a twenty-five-year-old single boarder born in Georgia to Georgia-born parents. The Barney boarder, by contrast, is indexed as John Blecten, with April 1884 birth, South Carolina birth, and both parents born in South Carolina. That Barney entry is internally inconsistent because the household list gives his age as ten while the detail panel gives an adult birth month and farm-laborer profile, so it should not be read uncritically. Even so, the South Carolina birthplace pattern conflicts with the Georgia-born John T./John J. Becton line strongly enough that the Barney boarder should remain unidentified rather than being absorbed into that nearby Becton trail.

Connections to Other Barney Families

HH#94 clearly belongs to the same Brooks County Hiers-Hires family cluster represented elsewhere in the encyclopedia. The 1870 and 1880 images support the immediate parent-child link to David and Rebecca Hiers, which in turn strengthens the broader connection to the Hiers households discussed in HH#36 and HH#100, though those extended kinship links should still be cited record by record when used.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: Keep head-of-household and spouse parentage as unresolved unless a cited direct record names the parents or the entry explains the census chain supporting the identification.
• Other household member audit: Verify every non-nuclear household member, including in-laws, boarders, servants, laborers, uncles, grandchildren, and collateral relatives, before treating the stated relationship as part of the proved family structure.
• The end of Sim's marriage to Georgia Blease still needs direct documentation, ideally through divorce, death, or other county records.
• Georgia Smith in 1930 and 1940 is clearly a sister in the census, but her maiden name and path to the Smith surname should be documented directly.
• The 16 April 1910 Valdosta Daily Times notice should still be preserved as a clean clipping or better OCR transcript, especially for the closing lines, even though the hotel name now likely resolves as Hotel Marie from comparative newspaper context.
• The 19 August 1915 Jeffersonian letter signed "Georgia V. Hires" is probably the same woman as Sim's wife, but that identification still rests on name and place fit rather than an explicit tie within the clipping itself.
• The apparent later memorial for Sim S. Hires at Gornto Cemetery still needs direct death-record and burial confirmation.
• Georgia Blease now has a strong but still not fully closed placement as a daughter of Warren R. Blease and Willie Simmons, supported by compiled Young family material plus the identification of "W. R. Blease" in the 1910 marriage notice as likely Warren R. Blease; the actual parentage link should still be confirmed with direct census or vital records.
• The Barney boarder indexed as "John Blecton" should not currently be identified as John Thomas Becton. The nearby 1900 and 1910 Becton records likely belong to each other, but the Barney entry's South Carolina birthplace pattern conflicts with that Georgia-born line.

Research Status

Well-Researched. HH#94 now has a solid seven-decade census backbone from 1870 through 1940, enough to support Sim Hires as a long-resident Brooks County farmer and to separate his later wife from his sister Georgia Smith. The remaining gaps are mostly closure records: direct proof for the end of his marriage, death and burial confirmation, firmer documentation for Georgia Blease's parentage, and a cautious unresolved reading of the Barney boarder called John Blecton.

Sources

• 1870 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of David Hiers, including Simon Hiers, age 3.
• 1880 U.S. census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Rebecca Hien, including Simeon S. Hien, age 15.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney precinct, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Sim Hires, page 9, lines 19-23.
• 1910 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Sim S. Hires and Georgia Hires.
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage license and return for S. S. Hires and Georgia Blease, issued and solemnized 6 April 1910.
• 1920 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of S. S. Hires and Georgit Hires.
• 1930 U.S. census, Militia District 1571, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Simeon S. Hiers and Georgia Smith.
• 1940 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Sim S. Hiers and Georgia Smith.
• Valdosta Times, 14 October 1899, item naming Sim Hires among the successful farmers around Barney.
• Valdosta Daily Times, 16 April 1910, page 4, newspaper notice describing S. S. Hires taking Miss Georgia Blease from the home of W. R. Blease near Barney and marrying her in Quitman, likely in the parlor of the Hotel Marie, by Rev. W. T. Gaulden.
• Jeffersonian, 19 August 1915, page 3, letter from Barney signed "Georgia V. Hires".
• Macon Telegraph, 21 July 1917, page 12, article describing Mrs. S. S. Hires near Barney as a large-scale home canner.
• Macon Telegraph, 20 August 1921, page 6, report listing S. S. Hires among temporary committee members at the Adel potato growers association meeting.
• Atlanta Journal, 25 January 1892, Quitman correspondence datelined from the Hotel Marie; comparative context supporting the hotel's existence and name in Quitman.
• Valdosta Times, 14 October 1902, article discussing the Hotel Marie as a valuable Quitman property and local hotel.
• Young family genealogy pages, identifying Georgia Blease, born 2 May 1886, as a daughter of Warren R. Blease and Willie Simmons and noting her marriage to S. S. Hires about 1910; useful as derivative family-compilation evidence pending direct confirmation.
• Greenville News, 5 May 1957, obituary of Warren R. Blease of near Barney, Georgia, identifying him as a longtime Brooks County farmer and legislator; supports reading "W. R. Blease" in the 1910 marriage notice as Warren R. Blease.
• Brooks County legislative roster, showing repeated service by Warren R. Blease in the Georgia House; supports the full-name identification of "W. R. Blease".
• Find a Grave memorial #51983631 for Sim S. Hires, Gornto Cemetery, Brooks County, Georgia; useful as a likely later-life lead pending direct confirmation.

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